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<h1>Using the sqlite3_unlock_notify() API</h1>
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<pre>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">/* This example uses the pthreads API */</span>
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#include <pthread.h>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">/*</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** A pointer to an instance of this structure is passed as the user-context</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** pointer when registering for an unlock-notify callback.</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">*/</span>
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typedef struct UnlockNotification UnlockNotification;
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struct UnlockNotification {
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  int fired;                         <span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">/* True after unlock event has occurred */</span>
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  pthread_cond_t cond;               <span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">/* Condition variable to wait on */</span>
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  pthread_mutex_t mutex;             <span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">/* Mutex to protect structure */</span>
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};
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">/*</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** This function is an unlock-notify callback registered with SQLite.</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">*/</span>
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static void unlock_notify_cb(void **apArg, int nArg){
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  int i;
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  for(i=0; i<nArg; i++){
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    UnlockNotification *p = (UnlockNotification *)apArg[i];
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    pthread_mutex_lock(&p->mutex);
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    p->fired = 1;
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    pthread_cond_signal(&p->cond);
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    pthread_mutex_unlock(&p->mutex);
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  }
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}
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">/*</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** This function assumes that an SQLite API call (either <a href="c3ref/prepare.html">sqlite3_prepare_v2</a>() </span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** or <a href="c3ref/step.html">sqlite3_step</a>()) has just returned SQLITE_LOCKED. The argument is the</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** associated database connection.</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">**</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** This function calls <a href="c3ref/unlock_notify.html">sqlite3_unlock_notify</a>() to register for an </span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** unlock-notify callback, then blocks until that callback is delivered </span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** and returns SQLITE_OK. The caller should then retry the failed operation.</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">**</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** Or, if <a href="c3ref/unlock_notify.html">sqlite3_unlock_notify</a>() indicates that to block would deadlock </span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** the system, then this function returns SQLITE_LOCKED immediately. In </span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** this case the caller should not retry the operation and should roll </span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** back the current transaction (if any).</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">*/</span>
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static int wait_for_unlock_notify(<a href="c3ref/sqlite3.html">sqlite3</a> *db){
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  int rc;
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  UnlockNotification un;
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  <span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">/* Initialize the UnlockNotification structure. */</span>
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  un.fired = 0;
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  pthread_mutex_init(&un.mutex, 0);
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  pthread_cond_init(&un.cond, 0);
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  <span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">/* Register for an unlock-notify callback. */</span>
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  rc = <a href="c3ref/unlock_notify.html">sqlite3_unlock_notify</a>(db, unlock_notify_cb, (void *)&un);
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  assert( rc==SQLITE_LOCKED || rc==SQLITE_OK );
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  <span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">/* The call to <a href="c3ref/unlock_notify.html">sqlite3_unlock_notify</a>() always returns either SQLITE_LOCKED </span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">  ** or SQLITE_OK. </span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">  **</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">  ** If SQLITE_LOCKED was returned, then the system is deadlocked. In this</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">  ** case this function needs to return SQLITE_LOCKED to the caller so </span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">  ** that the current transaction can be rolled back. Otherwise, block</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">  ** until the unlock-notify callback is invoked, then return SQLITE_OK.</span>
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  <span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">*/</span>
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  if( rc==SQLITE_OK ){
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    pthread_mutex_lock(&un.mutex);
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    if( !un.fired ){
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      pthread_cond_wait(&un.cond, &un.mutex);
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    }
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    pthread_mutex_unlock(&un.mutex);
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  }
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  <span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">/* Destroy the mutex and condition variables. */</span>
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  pthread_cond_destroy(&un.cond);
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  pthread_mutex_destroy(&un.mutex);
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  return rc;
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}
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">/*</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** This function is a wrapper around the SQLite function <a href="c3ref/step.html">sqlite3_step</a>().</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** It functions in the same way as step(), except that if a required</span>
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						|
<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** shared-cache lock cannot be obtained, this function may block waiting for</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** the lock to become available. In this scenario the normal API step()</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** function always returns SQLITE_LOCKED.</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">**</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** If this function returns SQLITE_LOCKED, the caller should rollback</span>
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						|
<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** the current transaction (if any) and try again later. Otherwise, the</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** system may become deadlocked.</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">*/</span>
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int sqlite3_blocking_step(<a href="c3ref/stmt.html">sqlite3_stmt</a> *pStmt){
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  int rc;
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  while( SQLITE_LOCKED==(rc = <a href="c3ref/step.html">sqlite3_step</a>(pStmt)) ){
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    rc = wait_for_unlock_notify(<a href="c3ref/db_handle.html">sqlite3_db_handle</a>(pStmt));
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    if( rc!=SQLITE_OK ) break;
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    <a href="c3ref/reset.html">sqlite3_reset</a>(pStmt);
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						|
  }
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						|
  return rc;
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						|
}
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						|
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						|
<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">/*</span>
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						|
<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** This function is a wrapper around the SQLite function <a href="c3ref/prepare.html">sqlite3_prepare_v2</a>().</span>
 | 
						|
<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** It functions in the same way as prepare_v2(), except that if a required</span>
 | 
						|
<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** shared-cache lock cannot be obtained, this function may block waiting for</span>
 | 
						|
<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** the lock to become available. In this scenario the normal API prepare_v2()</span>
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						|
<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** function always returns SQLITE_LOCKED.</span>
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						|
<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">**</span>
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						|
<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** If this function returns SQLITE_LOCKED, the caller should rollback</span>
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						|
<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** the current transaction (if any) and try again later. Otherwise, the</span>
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						|
<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">** system may become deadlocked.</span>
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<span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">*/</span>
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int sqlite3_blocking_prepare_v2(
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  <a href="c3ref/sqlite3.html">sqlite3</a> *db,              <span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">/* Database handle. */</span>
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						|
  const char *zSql,         <span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">/* UTF-8 encoded SQL statement. */</span>
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						|
  int nSql,                 <span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">/* Length of zSql in bytes. */</span>
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						|
  <a href="c3ref/stmt.html">sqlite3_stmt</a> **ppStmt,    <span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">/* OUT: A pointer to the prepared statement */</span>
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						|
  const char **pz           <span style="color:blue;font-style:italic">/* OUT: End of parsed string */</span>
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){
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  int rc;
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						|
  while( SQLITE_LOCKED==(rc = <a href="c3ref/prepare.html">sqlite3_prepare_v2</a>(db, zSql, nSql, ppStmt, pz)) ){
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    rc = wait_for_unlock_notify(db);
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						|
    if( rc!=SQLITE_OK ) break;
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						|
  }
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  return rc;
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}
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</pre>
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<p>
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  When two or more connections access the same database in shared-cache 
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  mode, read and write (shared and exclusive) locks on individual tables
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						|
  are used to ensure that concurrently executing transactions are kept 
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						|
  isolated. Before writing to a table, a write (exclusive) lock must be 
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						|
  obtained on that table. Before reading, a read (shared) lock must be
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						|
  obtained. A connection releases all held table locks when it concludes
 | 
						|
  its transaction. If a connection cannot obtain a required lock, then
 | 
						|
  the call to <a href="c3ref/step.html">sqlite3_step()</a> returns SQLITE_LOCKED.
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						|
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						|
<p>
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						|
  Although it is less common, a call to <a href="c3ref/prepare.html">sqlite3_prepare()</a> or
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						|
  <a href="c3ref/prepare.html">sqlite3_prepare_v2()</a> may also return SQLITE_LOCKED if it cannot obtain
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						|
  a read-lock on the <a href="schematab.html">sqlite_schema table</a> of each attached database. These
 | 
						|
  APIs need to read the schema data contained in the sqlite_schema table
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						|
  in order to compile SQL statements to <a href="c3ref/stmt.html">sqlite3_stmt*</a> objects.
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						|
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<p>
 | 
						|
  This article presents a technique using the SQLite <a href="c3ref/unlock_notify.html">sqlite3_unlock_notify()</a>
 | 
						|
  interface such that calls to <a href="c3ref/step.html">sqlite3_step()</a> and <a href="c3ref/prepare.html">sqlite3_prepare_v2()</a>
 | 
						|
  block until the required locks are available instead of returning 
 | 
						|
  SQLITE_LOCKED immediately. If the
 | 
						|
  sqlite3_blocking_step() or sqlite3_blocking_prepare_v2() functions presented 
 | 
						|
  to the left return SQLITE_LOCKED, this indicates that to block would 
 | 
						|
  deadlock the system.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<p>
 | 
						|
  The <a href="c3ref/unlock_notify.html">sqlite3_unlock_notify()</a> API, which is only available if the library is
 | 
						|
  compiled with the pre-processor symbol <a href="compile.html#enable_unlock_notify">SQLITE_ENABLE_UNLOCK_NOTIFY</a> defined,
 | 
						|
  is <a href="c3ref/unlock_notify.html">documented here</a>. This article is not a
 | 
						|
  substitute for reading the full API documentation!
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<p>
 | 
						|
  The <a href="c3ref/unlock_notify.html">sqlite3_unlock_notify()</a> interface is designed for use in systems
 | 
						|
  that have a separate thread assigned to each <a href="c3ref/sqlite3.html">database connection</a>.  There
 | 
						|
  is nothing in the implementation that prevents a single thread from running
 | 
						|
  multiple database connections.  However, the <a href="c3ref/unlock_notify.html">sqlite3_unlock_notify()</a>
 | 
						|
  interface only works on a single connection at a time, so the lock
 | 
						|
  resolution logic presented here will only work for a single 
 | 
						|
  database connection per thread.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<p><b>The sqlite3_unlock_notify() API</b>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<p>
 | 
						|
  After a call to <a href="c3ref/step.html">sqlite3_step()</a> or <a href="c3ref/prepare.html">sqlite3_prepare_v2()</a> returns 
 | 
						|
  SQLITE_LOCKED, the <a href="c3ref/unlock_notify.html">sqlite3_unlock_notify()</a> API may be invoked to register 
 | 
						|
  for an unlock-notify callback. The unlock-notify callback is invoked by 
 | 
						|
  SQLite after the database connection holding the table-lock that prevented
 | 
						|
  the call to <a href="c3ref/step.html">sqlite3_step()</a> or <a href="c3ref/prepare.html">sqlite3_prepare_v2()</a> from succeeding has
 | 
						|
  finished its transaction and released all locks. For example, if a call to
 | 
						|
  sqlite3_step() is an attempt to read from table X, and some other connection
 | 
						|
  Y is holding a write-lock on table X, then sqlite3_step() will return
 | 
						|
  SQLITE_LOCKED. If <a href="c3ref/unlock_notify.html">sqlite3_unlock_notify()</a> is then called, the unlock-notify
 | 
						|
  callback will be invoked after connection Y's transaction is concluded. The
 | 
						|
  connection that the unlock-notify callback is waiting on, in this case
 | 
						|
  connection Y, is known as the "blocking connection".
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<p>
 | 
						|
  If a call to sqlite3_step() that attempts to write to a database table
 | 
						|
  returns SQLITE_LOCKED, then more than one other connection may be holding 
 | 
						|
  a read-lock on the database table in question. In this case SQLite simply
 | 
						|
  selects one of those other connections arbitrarily and issues the 
 | 
						|
  unlock-notify callback when that connection's transaction is finished.
 | 
						|
  Whether the call to sqlite3_step() was blocked by one or many connections, 
 | 
						|
  when the corresponding unlock-notify callback is issued it is not 
 | 
						|
  guaranteed that the required lock is available, only that it may be.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<p>
 | 
						|
  When the unlock-notify callback is issued, it is issued from within a
 | 
						|
  call to sqlite3_step() (or sqlite3_close()) associated with the blocking 
 | 
						|
  connection. It is illegal to invoke any sqlite3_XXX() API functions from
 | 
						|
  within an unlock-notify callback. The expected use is that the unlock-notify
 | 
						|
  callback will signal some other waiting thread or schedule some action
 | 
						|
  to take place later.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<p>
 | 
						|
  The algorithm used by the sqlite3_blocking_step() function is as follows:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<ol>
 | 
						|
  <li><p> Call sqlite3_step() on the supplied statement handle. If the call
 | 
						|
       returns anything other than SQLITE_LOCKED, then return this value
 | 
						|
       to the caller. Otherwise, continue.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
  <li><p> Invoke <a href="c3ref/unlock_notify.html">sqlite3_unlock_notify()</a> on the database connection handle
 | 
						|
       associated with the supplied statement handle to register for an
 | 
						|
       unlock-notify callback. If the call to unlock_notify() returns
 | 
						|
       SQLITE_LOCKED, then return this value to the caller.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
  <li><p> Block until the unlock-notify callback is invoked by another thread.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
  <li><p> Call sqlite3_reset() on the statement handle. Since an 
 | 
						|
       SQLITE_LOCKED error may only occur on the first call to sqlite3_step()
 | 
						|
       (it is not possible for one call to sqlite3_step() to return 
 | 
						|
       SQLITE_ROW and then the next SQLITE_LOCKED), the statement handle may 
 | 
						|
       be reset at this point without affecting the results of the query
 | 
						|
       from the point of view of the caller. If sqlite3_reset() were not
 | 
						|
       called at this point, the next call to sqlite3_step() would return
 | 
						|
       SQLITE_MISUSE.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
  <li><p> Return to step 1.
 | 
						|
</ol>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<p>
 | 
						|
  The algorithm used by the sqlite3_blocking_prepare_v2() function is similar,
 | 
						|
  except that step 4 (resetting the statement handle) is omitted.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<p><b>Writer Starvation</b>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<p>
 | 
						|
  Multiple connections may hold a read-lock simultaneously.  If many threads
 | 
						|
  are acquiring overlapping read-locks, it might be the case that at least
 | 
						|
  one thread is always holding a read lock.
 | 
						|
  Then a table waiting for a write-lock will wait forever.
 | 
						|
  This scenario is called "writer starvation."
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<p>
 | 
						|
  SQLite helps applications avoid writer starvation. After any attempt to
 | 
						|
  obtain a write-lock on a table fails (because one or more other 
 | 
						|
  connections are holding read-locks), all attempts to open new transactions
 | 
						|
  on the shared-cache fail until one of the following is true:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<ul>
 | 
						|
  <li> The current writer concludes its transaction, OR
 | 
						|
  <li> The number of open read-transactions on the shared-cache drops to zero.
 | 
						|
</ul>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<p>
 | 
						|
  Failed attempts to open new read-transactions return SQLITE_LOCKED to the
 | 
						|
  caller. If the caller then calls <a href="c3ref/unlock_notify.html">sqlite3_unlock_notify()</a> to register for
 | 
						|
  an unlock-notify callback, the blocking connection is the connection that
 | 
						|
  currently has an open write-transaction on the shared-cache. This prevents
 | 
						|
  writer-starvation since if no new read-transactions may be opened and 
 | 
						|
  assuming all existing read-transactions are eventually concluded, the 
 | 
						|
  writer will eventually have an opportunity to obtain the required
 | 
						|
  write-lock.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<p><b>The pthreads API</b>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
  <p> By the time <a href="c3ref/unlock_notify.html">sqlite3_unlock_notify()</a> is invoked by
 | 
						|
      wait_for_unlock_notify(), it is possible that the blocking connection
 | 
						|
      that prevented the sqlite3_step() or sqlite3_prepare_v2() call from 
 | 
						|
      succeeding has already finished its transaction. In this case, the 
 | 
						|
      unlock-notify callback is invoked immediately, before 
 | 
						|
      <a href="c3ref/unlock_notify.html">sqlite3_unlock_notify()</a> returns. Or, it is possible that the 
 | 
						|
      unlock-notify callback is invoked by a second thread after 
 | 
						|
      <a href="c3ref/unlock_notify.html">sqlite3_unlock_notify()</a> is called but before the thread starts waiting 
 | 
						|
      to be asynchronously signaled. 
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
  <p> Exactly how such a potential race-condition is handled depends on the
 | 
						|
      threads and synchronization primitives interface used by the application.
 | 
						|
      This example uses pthreads, the interface provided by modern UNIX-like 
 | 
						|
      systems, including Linux.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
  <p> The pthreads interface provides the pthread_cond_wait() function. 
 | 
						|
      This function allows the caller to simultaneously release a mutex
 | 
						|
      and start waiting for an asynchronous signal. Using this function,
 | 
						|
      a "fired" flag and a mutex, the race-condition described above may
 | 
						|
      be eliminated as follows:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
  <p> When the unlock-notify callback is invoked, which may be before the
 | 
						|
      thread that called <a href="c3ref/unlock_notify.html">sqlite3_unlock_notify()</a> begins waiting for the 
 | 
						|
      asynchronous signal, it does the following:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    <ol>
 | 
						|
      <li> Obtains the mutex.
 | 
						|
      <li> Sets the "fired" flag to true.
 | 
						|
      <li> Attempts to signal a waiting thread.
 | 
						|
      <li> Releases the mutex.
 | 
						|
    </ol>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
  <p> When the wait_for_unlock_notify() thread is ready to begin waiting for
 | 
						|
      the unlock-notify callback to arrive, it:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
    <ol>
 | 
						|
      <li> Obtains the mutex.
 | 
						|
      <li> Checks if the "fired" flag has been set. If so, the unlock-notify
 | 
						|
           callback has already been invoked. Release the mutex and continue.
 | 
						|
      <li> Atomically releases the mutex and begins waiting for the
 | 
						|
           asynchronous signal. When the signal arrives, continue.
 | 
						|
    </ol>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
  <p> This way, it doesn't matter if the unlock-notify callback has already
 | 
						|
      been invoked, or is being invoked, when the wait_for_unlock_notify() 
 | 
						|
      thread begins blocking.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<p><b>Possible Enhancements</b>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
  <p> The code in this article could be improved in at least two ways:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
  <ul>
 | 
						|
    <li> It could manage thread priorities.
 | 
						|
    <li> It could handle a special case of SQLITE_LOCKED that can occur
 | 
						|
         when dropping a table or index.
 | 
						|
  </ul>
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
  <p>
 | 
						|
    Even though the <a href="c3ref/unlock_notify.html">sqlite3_unlock_notify()</a> function only allows the caller
 | 
						|
    to specify a single user-context pointer, an unlock-notify callback 
 | 
						|
    is passed an array of such context pointers. This is because if when
 | 
						|
    a blocking connection concludes its transaction, if there is more
 | 
						|
    than one unlock-notify registered to call the same C function, the
 | 
						|
    context-pointers are marshaled into an array and a single callback
 | 
						|
    issued. If each thread were assigned a priority, then instead of just
 | 
						|
    signaling the threads in arbitrary order as this implementation does,
 | 
						|
    higher priority threads could be signaled before lower priority threads.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
  <p>
 | 
						|
    If a "DROP TABLE" or "DROP INDEX" SQL command is executed, and the
 | 
						|
    same database connection currently has one or more actively
 | 
						|
    executing SELECT statements, then SQLITE_LOCKED is returned. If
 | 
						|
    <a href="c3ref/unlock_notify.html">sqlite3_unlock_notify()</a> is called in this case, then the specified
 | 
						|
    callback will be invoked immediately. Re-attempting the "DROP
 | 
						|
    TABLE" or "DROP INDEX" statement will return another SQLITE_LOCKED 
 | 
						|
    error. In the implementation of sqlite3_blocking_step() shown to the
 | 
						|
    left, this could cause an infinite loop.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
  <p>
 | 
						|
    The caller could distinguish between this special "DROP TABLE|INDEX" 
 | 
						|
    case and other cases by using <a href="rescode.html#extrc">extended error codes</a>. When it is appropriate
 | 
						|
    to call <a href="c3ref/unlock_notify.html">sqlite3_unlock_notify()</a>, the extended error code is
 | 
						|
    SQLITE_LOCKED_SHAREDCACHE. Otherwise, in the "DROP TABLE|INDEX" case,
 | 
						|
    it is just plain SQLITE_LOCKED. Another solution might be to limit
 | 
						|
    the number of times that any single query could be reattempted (to say 
 | 
						|
    100). Although this might be less efficient than one might wish, the 
 | 
						|
    situation in question is not likely to occur often.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
<div style="clear:both"></div>
 | 
						|
 |